Yahoo Finance Ernest Hemingway's Florida House Impacted by Hurricane Ian, but Famous Six-Toed Cats Are Fine
Ernest Hemingway House/Instagram
Ernest Hemingway's home in Key West, Florida, is intact following the impact of Hurricane Ian.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Alexa Morgan, a representative for the museum, said that the historical building received minor damage amid the storm, and the 59 cats who live in the estate are safe and sound. "All is well," she said.
According to Morgan, the staff at the estate is now dealing with the aftermath of the hurricane, including cleaning tree and leaf debris from the outside area of the home.
The museum closed on Wednesday and is already up and running on Thursday.
In preparation for the storm, the cats were safely sheltered on the property, with a few staff members staying there to feed and tend to the animals.
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Prior to the category 4 storm, the author's granddaughter, Mariel Hemingway, spoke to The Daily Mail about her fears of the home being destroyed.
"If any of his houses were destroyed the pain and sorrow would be palpable," the actress, 60, told the outlet, also referencing his homes in Ketchum, Idaho, and Havana, Cuba.
"It would be upsetting if any of his houses were affected," she continued.
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As for the numerous cats located within the Key West property, most of them have a unique feature: six toes.
"About half of the cats at the museum have the physical polydactyl (six toes) trait, but they all carry the polydactyl gene in their DNA, which means that the ones that have 4 and 5 toes can still mother or father six-toed kittens," the museum's website states.
The cat colony started with Snow White, a six-toed cat given to Hemingway by a ship's captain. "Some of the cats who live on the museum grounds are descendants of that original cat," the website says.
Keeping his tradition alive, the museum continues to name all of its cats after famous people.
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The Hemingway home was built in 1851 in the Spanish Colonial style. The author and his second wife, Pauline, were gifted the house in 1931 by her Uncle Gus.
In the early 1930s, the house underwent major restoration and remodeling that turned it into what is now a national historical landmark.
In 1940, the couple divorced, and Hemingway left for Cuba to live with his third wife, Martha Gellhorn. He continued to visit the home during the 1940s and 1950s until his death in 1961.
